﻿﻿﻿Research﻿﻿﻿

My research focuses on the development of curriculum that is consciously grounded in cultural epistemology, ontology, and axiology. I have specifically worked on curriculum that supports Indigenous language and culture revitalization, Indigenous well-being, tribal sovereignty, and self-determination for Indigenous communities.

﻿﻿﻿﻿My Research﻿﻿﻿﻿My research agenda has focused on the development of curriculum that is consciously grounded in cultural epistemology, ontology, and axiology. I have specifically worked on curriculum that supports Indigenous language and culture revitalization and tribal well-being, sovereignty, and self-determination. However, my dissertation marks a divergence from curriculum, and explores factors affecting student retention in doctoral programs.

PublicationsI was fortunate to meet Dr. Kathy Baily when she was touring community college ESL programs around the country. One of my professors, Jun Liu, wanted Kathy to hear about some of the work I was doing with students in Pima Community College's ESL program, and he arranged for Kathy to meet me. Kathy was preparing to edit a book on research focusing on ESL in community colleges, and she asked me to write a chapter for the book. I was thrilled to have my research published. The following is a citation of my first published work:

Galda, D. (2009). "My Words is Big Problem": The life and learning experiences of three elderly Eastern European refugees studying ESL at a community college. In K. M. Bailey & M. G. Santos, (Eds.). (2009). Research on English as a second language in U.S. community colleges: People, programs and potential. (pp. 122-141). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

DissertationMy dissertation proposal has now passed the human subjects process at the University of Arizona and I am in the data collection phase of the project.

My dissertation project is an inquiry into factors affecting the retention and completion of Indigenous students in doctoral programs in American universities. I am utilizing a mixed methodology for the project. For the survey component, I am using the snowball method to recruit participants - sending surveys out to friends and colleagues who are working in higher education across North America and asking them to either consider participating in the project themselves or to share the surveys with their students, former students, friends, and colleagues (Indigenous doctoral students and recent doctoral degree recipients) who might be willing to participate in the research project. I am attempting to obtain 50 responses. If I don't have enough responses, I will reach out to friends and classmates who qualify as potential research participants and ask if they would be interested in participating.

The second component of the project involves asking a specialized focus group, an Indigenous sharing circle, to offer suggestions for those interested in pursing a professional degree on how they might better successfully navigate the academy and achieve their educational goals. In addition, the group will also be asked if they have any suggestions for institutions of higher education on how they might better support the successful degree completion by their Indigenous scholars.

The final component of the project consists of three qualitative, in-depth case studies. One of the case studies will explore the experiences of an Indigenous scholar who has successfully completed his/her doctoral degree. Another will explore the experiences of an Indigenous scholar who is currently successfully progressing through his/her doctoral program. The final case study will explore the experiences of an Indigenous scholar who began a doctoral program but has subsequently left the program and does not anticipate ever completing the program.

If you or anyone you know might be interested in participating in any (or all) of the components of the project, please do not hesitate to contact me! My e-mail is: